[5] The descriptors for the RQF are as follows:[6] Holder has basic factual knowledge of a subject and/or knowledge of facts, procedures and ideas to complete well-defined routine tasks and address simple problems; and is aware of aspects of information relevant to the area of study or work.
AND/OR Holder can use basic cognitive and practical skills to complete well-defined routine tasks and procedures.
It may also include "NVQ" to indicate that it meets certain criteria to be considered a vocational qualification: "the qualification is based on recognised occupational standards, confers occupational competence and requires work-based assessment and/or assessment in an environment that simulates the work place".
Universities, colleges and employers are also free to make their own decisions on how they treat qualifications, and are not bound to follow the frameworks.
With respect to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), only qualifications on the FHEQ (and only those with the full number of credits for that level) are certified as being equivalent to Bologna Process cycles, thus:[5] The idea of a national framework for higher education qualifications (FHEQ) was proposed by the Dearing and Garrick Reports in 1997.
[18] The first editions of the FHEQ were published by the Quality Assurance Agency in January 2001 as two documents: one covering England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the other Scotland.
The Scottish FHEQ was certified as aligned with the framework of the European Higher Education Area (EHEQ) in 2007.
The second edition of the FHEQ for England, Wales and Northern Ireland was issued in August 2008, and was also then certified as aligned with the EHEA framework.
[22] A second edition of the Scottish FHEQ was issued in June 2014, doing away with the separate labelling of levels in higher education and simply adopting the SCQF numbering,[23] and a third edition of both, united into one document as The Frameworks for Higher Education Qualifications of UK Degree-Awarding Bodies, was published in November 2014.
As such, some courses which were popular internationally and offered by British-based organisations were not available to state schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
This separates postgraduate courses into research and taught, based on the largest component in terms of student effort.
UK ENIC issues statements of comparability and certificates based on these bands, which are designed to be precise enough to distinguish between different international awards and assist in informed decision making.